Time to revive Saemaul Undong

By Ranjit Kumar Dhawan

During the 1970s, Korea under President Park Chung-hee initiated a unique program to promote rural development called “Saemaul Undong,” or the “New Village Movement.” This was a very successful strategy and brought development and modernity to the remote corners of the country. This program basically utilized the Korean social traditions of “dure” and “hyangyak” to promote the culture of “self-help” and “can do” spirit.

The village communities in Korea were provided with several incentives by the Park administration for development projects such as building roads, irrigation systems, houses, etc. For this purpose, the villages were given cement bags, steel and other kinds of material support. Prior to Saemaul Undong, Korea was also successful in implementing comprehensive land reforms. These two movements brought about structural changes in the rural areas.

Centuries of economic stagnation and feudal relationship were broken down through land reforms which initiated a new era of development and productivity. The absence of landed nobility and powerful interest groups in the country were an important factor that led to the rise of an autonomous “developmental state” in Korea under Park Chung-hee. As a result, the Korean state was able to promote an export-oriented economic development and achieve high growth rates.

However, the rapid economic growth in Korea also created rural-urban disparities. In order to mitigate the rising gulf between villages and cities, the Korean state adopted the strategy of Saemaul Undong. The funding for Saemaul Undong was raised through the contributions from chaebol groups. These contributions were taken very seriously. For example, the Kukje Group, which was one of the leading chaebol groups in Korea in the 1980s, was deliberately allowed to go bankrupt by the Chun Doo-hwan administration because it failed to make adequate contributions for government programs such as Saemaul Undong.

In contrast to Korea, India ― which is known as the country of villages ― failed to achieve rural transformation. Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation regarded Indian villages as small republics which remained self-sufficient for centuries. However the villages in India also remained the sphere of a rigid caste and feudal system. The post-independent India failed to implement land reforms. As a result, a feudal system continues in several parts of the country. Despite a number of institutional measures and rural development programs, the condition of Indian villages remains pathetic.

In Korea, also without land reforms, the Saemaul Undong strategy would probably have not been successful. Korea’s rural development strategy was also emulated by several other nations. However, in recent years the villages in Korea itself have lost their past glory as the centers of socio-economic change. Villages now look deserted and are mostly inhabited by old and infirmed. There are now less economic activities in the rural areas of Korea. The youths do not want to live in villages and women do not want to marry village men. On the other hand, in cities many people spend lonely and alienated lives. There is an increase in the number of single households in Korea, which is a strong evidence that the family and community based social relations are on decline.

In the past Korea had vibrant social ethos where interdependence, togetherness and strong community bonding were the norm. The contemporary Korean society is facing several socio-economic problems such as declining birth rates, aging population, rising suicide rates and massive unemployment. The solution of these problems lies in building community-based institutions and self-help.

Therefore, there is a need to revive the spirit of Saemaul Undong and rejuvenate community life in Korea. But will the Korean state under President Park Geun-hye seek contributions from the chaebol groups for Saemaul Undong as it did in the past seems a difficult question to answer.

The author is a Ph.D candidate at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. His e-mail address is rkdhawan13@hotmail.com.